Atlético Madrid has collected its second honor in four months, with today’s win at the Vicente Calderón providing further proof that last year’s upstart La Liga champions intend to provide a staunch defense of their title. Carrying a 1-1 scoreline into today’s second leg of the Supercopa de España, Atleti successfully defended a second minute goal from Mario Mandzukic, holding Real Madrid to two shots on target during their 1-0 (2-1, agg.) victory.

The result gave Atlético its second Super Cup, it’s first win since 1985, and its fifth honor under Diego Simeone. Hired by Atlético in Dec. 2011, the Argentine boss has pushed the club to the top of the Spanish game, a status affirmed by today’s win over the European champions.

The game’s only goal came after a pair of Atlético long balls sought to challenge Real Madrid’s defense in the opening minutes. The first led to a shot for Raúl García, missed wide, while the second produced a shock opener.

On ball from goalkeeper Miguel Moya, Mandzukic elevated into a challenge with Rafael Varane at the edge of Atlético’s attacking third. The subsequent ball, played forward by Antoine Griezmann, set up Mandzukic for an open chance just inside the penalty area, with the quick transition from end-to-end leaving Iker Casillas helpless in goal. The finish into the lower left hand corner gave the home side the game’s only lead.

That lead allowed Atlético to leverage its organization at the back, a trait that kept Real Madrid without a shot on target for the game’s first 25 minutes. The Merengues final attempt on Moya came from Cristiano Ronaldo just past the hour, though even the introduction of the Portuguese star, held out until halftime, couldn’t turn the match. Real Madrid, contained throughout, seemed as likely to concede as equalize.

The likelihood almost played out in the 49th minute ,when a Koke restart from the left found García in front of goal. His close range shot nailed the bottom of the crossbar before bouncing just in front of Casillas’s goal line. A quick recovery by the Real Madrid keeper allowed him to palm the ball away, keeping the Spanish Cup winners within one.

As the drama played out, Simeone was looking on from the stands, having been ordered from Atlético’s bench near the mid-point of the first half. After confronting the fourth official regarding a delay in allowing an injured player’s return, referee David Fernández sent Simeone to the dressing room, with the Atleti boss emerging in the stands behind the bench for the second half.

After Atlético’s early chance, the rest of the second half was characterized by the conflict more than the potential. At one point, Xabi Alonso was left clutching the back of his head, having felt the bottom of an Atlético player’s boot. A hard challenge from Sergio Ramos nearly ended Raúl García’s night late, while commentators spent part of the game’s final moments debating whether Cristiano Ronaldo had punched a player while attempting to play a corner kick. When Luka Modric picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time, the half had it’s signature moment – a player who’s yet to see red in league play for either Tottenham or El Real given his marching orders amid the passion of this preseason competition.

That passion was again felt at the final whistle, with the Calderón reacting as if the team had made it through a Champions League knockout round. Given the opponent, the stakes felt similar. Though the Supercopa is just a preseason trophy, it’s one that has recently become a chance to claim an advantage, if only a mental one.

With today’s win, Atlético have some justification in thinking they, not their more affluent rivals, are the team to beat this year. Not only are they defending Spanish champions, but they’ve taken the first honor of the season.

HOUSTON (AP) Stanford got off to a rough start this year, but rebounded in a season where everyone wanted to take the Cardinal down to make it back to the College Cup.

After winning the first national championship in program history last season, No. 5 Stanford continues its title defense in the second semifinal on Friday night against No. 9 North Carolinas. In the first semifinal, No. 2 Wake Forest faces undefeated No. 6 Denver.

Stanford had with three ties and a loss in its first six games before winning 13 of its next 16 games to win a third straight Pac-12 championship and return to the College Cup.

“I think it was kind of a wakeup call seeing how hard we were going to get played and I think we adapted to that as the season progressed,” said defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce, who was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last month.

Stanford hopes to become the first team since Indiana in 2003-04 to win consecutive national championships. Coach Jeremy Gunn’s team is the first to return to the College Cup the season after winning the national championship since Wake Forest returned in 2008 after winning it all in 2007.

Stanford lost some key players from last season, including MLS Rookie of the Year and the reigning Hermann Trophy winner Jordan Morris. But it returns six starters from last season’s team. Five of those players were named to the All-Pac-12 first team last month, and one was on the second team.

“We had some great players leave after last year and I think some people wanted to write us off this year,” Gunn said.

Stanford is led by Co-Pac-12 player of the year Foster Langsdorf. The junior forward has led the team’s attack this season, scoring 15 goals, including one in each of Stanford’s three tournament games. In their 10 Pac-12 games, Langsdorf scored 12 goals.

North Carolina comes to Houston for its first College Cup appearance since winning a national championship in 2011. The Tar Heels also reached the national semifinals in 2009-10.

Some things to know about the College Cup.

H-TOWN CONNECTION: The Tar Heels come to Houston with many connections to the area. Three Houston Dynamo players, defenders Jalil Anibaba and Sheanon Williams and goalkeeper Tyler Deric, played at North Carolina, while head coach Carlos Somoano is from nearby Seabrook, Texas. The Tar Heels leading scorer, Tucker Hume, said players from the Dynamo have reached out to them and that they’ll be at Friday’s game.

“My formative soccer years and experiences were done right here in Houston,” Somoano said. “So for me it’s very special to be back here.”

YOUTH MOVEMENT: After losing key players from last season, including three who were selected in the top 12 of the MLS SuperDraft, North Carolina has had to rely on its youth in 2016. The Tar Heels have 12 players who have appeared in all 20 games this season, six of whom are either freshmen or sophomores. Sophomore forward Nils Bruening leads the team in goals with eight, while redshirt sophomore goalkeeper James Pyle has allowed just 10 goals this season.

“They’ve been a bit of a revelation for us,” Somoano said. “It’s just fascinating to see how they evolve through the year. They’re not the same players now than they were in August.”

FAMILIAR FACES: Denver head coach Jamie Franks and Wake Forest’s Bobby Muuss have plenty of history. Muuss was an assistant coach for the Demon Deacons during Franks’ freshman season in Winston-Salem and was the coach at Denver from 2007-14, with Franks serving as his assistant for three seasons. When Muuss took over at Wake Forest before the 2015 season, Franks took his place at Denver.

“I love Wake Forest . but at the end of the day, these are my boys,” Franks said. “These are my kids, and Wake Forest is standing in our way.

WAKE EYES REDEMPTION: Last season, Wake Forest was the No. 1 team in the country with a 17-2-2 record before falling in the quarterfinals to the eventual national champions Stanford in overtime. This season, the Demon Deacons enter the College Cup with an 18-2-3 mark with a pair of shutouts in wins over Coastal Carolina and Virginia Tech.

DOMINANCE REWARDED: Since Franks took over as the Denver head coach, the Pioneers have lost just one game, a defeat to SMU that ended the 2015 season. The team feels its 35-1-6 record under Franks it has not received enough credit, mostly because the Pioneers play in the Summit League. This is Denver’s first appearance in the College Cup and the players are embracing their underdog role.

“It’s more a historical thing than an actual thing because no one in our locker room is surprised to be here, we expected to be here,” sophomore forward Andre Shinyashiki said.

LONDON (AP) Police overseeing the sex abuse scandal in British soccer say 83 potential suspects have been identified and linked to 98 clubs.

Officers across the country are sifting through 639 referrals received by both police and a helpline established last month when former players started going public to say they were abused by coaches while in youth teams.